World's Toilet Crisis

This is so inspirational and eye-opening. I wish more teens and young adults would take a look at this incredible show and start realizing that you can do something. This show is just awesome, I'm so glad my mom and I began watching it and getting ourselves educated in these issues.

This was one of the most amazing documentaries I've ever seen. Hopefully the world can band together and start shitting in toilets during my life time.

When I lived in Chennai, India I could smell the Cooum River from a very long way away. When the monsoons would come the Cooum would stink before the rains arrived. You can tell the rain is coming because the stench is unbearable. The Cooum River is a open sewer. It is black and bubbling with raw sewage. The stench could knock you over.

People defecate and urinate in the street, on the sidewalk and pretty much anyplace and every place in public. I never failed to be shocked at the amount of people who suddenly dropped their pants and went to the bathroom right in front of me on the pavement, or what we call a sidewalk. There was so much shit on the sidewalk from cows, stray dogs and humans that I walked in the street to avoid it and risked being hit by a car instead of stepping in shit on the payment (sidewalk). Pretty much every public wall has been urinated on and smells of old urine and new urine, but everyone regards this as totally normal. The people who live on the Cooum River in mud huts with thatched roofs have no toilet so they have to go to the bathroom somewhere. The pavement dwellers, or what we call the homeless, do not have a thatched roof mud hut to live in. At the end of the day they simply lie down and sleep on the pavement (sidewalk) in nothing but the clothes on their backs. If a person had a little money they bought a woven mat to sleep on just like the ones we use on the beach in place of a beach towel. I rarely saw a person have a woven mat because most of the pavement dwellers are not that wealthy. I only saw about three or four people have a woven mat. The rest slept directly on the pavement itself. The poverty is on such a level you can not begin to imagine what is there or how the poor live. It is beyond the level of poverty we see in the West. Until you see it in person you can not even imagine what it looks like. I can explain it to you, but you will not understand until you go there for yourself to see it in person for yourself. Watching people bed down at the end of the day on the pavement (sidewalk) with nothing to their name, but the clothes on their backs explains why public urination and public defecation happens. Stepping over sleeping Indians and trying to hop over their sleeping bodies at the end of the day pretty much sums it up as to why there is public defecation and urination. These people have no homes and no toilet. Where else are they going to go to the bathroom? There are no public toilets for them to use.

Then throw in the packs of stray dogs leaving dog shit and urine everywhere... Then throw in the to cows left to wander the streets also defecating and urinating wherever they choose. A cow is a god so it is allowed to do whatever it wants. It is illegal to touch a cow and make it move from the spot where it stands, lies, sleeps or walks. This is why a sleeping cow in the middle of the street will stop traffic and we all had to sit there until the cow woke up. I wanted to wake up the cow and make it move from traffic, but I was advised I would go to jail for doing so. Instead we baked in the hot sun waiting for the cow to wake and move as no one dared approach the cow. These same cows walk on the pavement (sidewalk) and make pretty much everywhere their public urinal and bathroom.

Chennai Airport is the only major airport I have ever seen install cattle gates at the airport to prevent the cows from wandering onto the airport runway. Were cows to wander onto the runway they would cause a major airline accident and shut down that runway to all air traffic. Were the Indians to manage to shut down the runway before an accident the runway would be out of service until the cow wandered away, hence the cattle guards to keep the cows out of the airport.

In Chennai Airport my nose was assaulted by the stench of old urine, old feces, fresh urine, fresh feces, sweat, chili powder, smelly, wet, feral dogs that freely wandered in the airport that day, the smell of humans who needed to shower and the scent of mold growing in a humid climate. The stench was so overwhelming I tried to re-board my flight to escape it. Upon asking locals I was informed that stray dogs defecate and urinate freely in the terminals. I was also informed the pavement dwellers (homeless people who sleep on what we call a sidewalk, but Indians call the pavement) were using the terminal as a toilet when the need arose for them to need a toilet. It was not just out in public that the people use an area as their toilet, but the airport too.

From this public defecation comes all sorts of diseases that strike the rich and poor alike, but people have the attitude, "We have done this for thousands of year, so what is the problem?" They also have the attitude, "We have over a BILLION PEOPLE! What is the loss of thousands of lives to disease? What does it really matter? They will be reborn in a new life, so who cares if they die?" This attitude of "life is cheap when you have over a BILLION people" prevents them from caring about one another. Their large population has made them callous to the suffering of others.

Likewise, the caste system prevents upper castes from caring about a lower caste. The caste system is outlawed, but still alive and well. Everyone knows what caste they come from and discriminates against the castes below them. People still marry along castes lines. The untouchable caste makes up a good portion of the pavement dweller (homeless) population and no one wants to help them or care for them because they are from the untouchable caste. Religious discrimination is a huge part of the problem in India. Why clean up shit if it will benefit the untouchables that no one wants to have exist in the first place? Let them drown in shit and go to the next life. The Hindu belief in reincarnation is also part of the problem.

The pervasive attitude of "we have done it this way for thousands of years and everything is fine, so leave us alone to continue on as we have been" is another large part of why things will not change. The "we have done it this way for thousands of years" attitude permeates the culture. People do not see anything wrong with the status quo because it has been that way for thousands of years. Until this cultural attitude changes things will not change in regards to anything that is wrong with India or Indian society. Things will stay as they have since man first came to India and settled there. The sense of tradition makes people accept things as they are. The idea of reincarnation takes away any sense of urgency to make things better because they will simply be reborn, thus this life doesn't really matter all that much if you are an untouchable. Your life is worth less than a nickel if you are an untouchable. Not every human has the same value. Value is placed upon you depending upon whether you are a male or female. Males hold value and females do not. Which caste you were born into also determines your value. If the shit was a problem for the Brahmans it would have been cleaned up, but since the shit is a problem for the low castes and in particular the untouchables...no one cares.

Thanks for this refreshing documentary Adam. I like your hands-on approach; fun and effective way of getting communities involved, well done.
I was quite proud to see the 'little square' sanitation system at the end - at Ibu Rumjadi's house (Jakarta/slum). It's part of a project called PUSH (Program for Urban Sanitation and Hygiene) which I developed last year with my wife for NGO Mercy Corps and was funded by the Suez Environment Foundation. I didn't know it would feature - so that was a nice surprise. Now I can amuse my family (especially the inlaws) what kindof 'shit' business I'm really in.

Adam - could I possibly get a copy? Or is it downloadable?

If anyone would like some info on PUSH: please get in touch with Mercy Corps Jakarta or contact me at: ejmartijn@hotmail.com

Cheers, Ernst

**some notes for the sanitation die-hards**

It was a real challenge to design something low-cost, using local skills & materials (i.e. replicable) and yet effective, in dense urban slums with limited space and groundwater very close to the surface.

One of the key design issues (as Ibu Rumjadi explained to the community) is that a 'healthy' septic tank must be waterproof (or else it is a soak-pit). This may seem simple ... but it's been one of the greatest challenges in my 5 years working as a sanitation consultant in Indonesia, to get locally built waterproof tanks. Plastic, fiber-glass etc. proved too expensive and often too weak; but for a fraction of the cost, and with some training, local businesses can make robust pre-fabricated tanks from reinforced concrete. Asides from the square ones, there is also an even cheaper 'round' tank that can be made using skills & tools widely available across Indonesia for making concrete-pipes (with the simple addition of a bottom). The pre-fabrication has to be done above-ground (but can be on-site) to ensure that the concrete hardens and the tank is waterproof. Invariably, builders/contractors would initially still try to make the tank in the ground (i.e. pouring concrete in moulds in wet soil/high-groundwater); because this is easier for them. Inevitably these tanks would leak. That's not a technical problem; but a relatively simple issue of (a) negotiating a fair price for the extra work involved with pre-fabrication, and, (b) routine supervision/quality control to make sure it's properly done.

Post-treatment (i.e. polishing of the effluent from the septic tank) is done with anaerobic upflow filters. That's the white plastic tubes you saw in the documentary. It's not ideal, but relatively cheap and easy to build and O&M. I would've prefered to do mini constructed wetlands (treatment gardens with ornamental plants like papyrus that naturally pump oxygen through their roots, helping good bacteria to break down pollutants, whilst reducing pathogens) as I did with several organizations/NGO's across Aceh. People loved those, but there is no space for this in dense urban slums.

As for O&M - integral to 'sustainable' sanitation - we suggested establishing a Community Sanitation Business (CSB) which could provide (aside from tank building & installation) a.o. sludge removal (using small tugs that can access small pathways, bringing sludge to collection points from where larger trucks can bring it to processing plants out of the city) and anaerobic filter cleaning. I'm not sure how this component of the project is going (we are working elsewhere now); it is certainly critical and tricky (because it involves a willingness of poor households to pay, and of the CSB not to dump sludge into nearby rivers) but I think Mercy Corps is doing a great job through community mobilizers such as Ibu Rumjadi to get the proces started.

There's plenty more to say about PUSH (black-grey-water separation, household vs communal systems, appropriate technology, etc etc), but I think I've already overloaded this compartment here.

Thanks Adam, great documentary.

This is twenty-first century and one would hardly expect that this situation could be with us. Man has increased in knowledge tremendously, advanced to a high level technologically, and yet cannot, or rather has not made any compulsive effort to arrest the problem of figuring out a way to eradicate this aspect of public health. Man desperately needs to make a positive drive to make public-health a number one prority and thereby providing toilet facilities available in every country of the world. Human bodily waste ought to be disposed of in a manner that does not cause a public health crisis as is now being experienced across the world, especially in third world countries across the world. Had not Vanguard journalist Adam Yamaguchi brought this to our attention, most of us in the West, especially here in the USA, would have thought that everything, including the disposal of human waste, was being effectively dealt with and managed in such a way that could never become a threat to public health and sanitation. Let us resolve to do our part in assisting in a positive way to combat this crisis and make public health a number one priority in our age and time.

at least the grass looks great( besides all the shit in it though)

Holy Crap, Job well done Adam!
Time to get back on my soapbox and praise the potty. This is disturbing, alarming and needs to rectified ASAP. Over 1/2 of India's population openly poo? More citizens have cell phones than toilets? Clean water and proper sanitation should be a basic Human Right. Guess what Aunt Lynnie's giving for Christmas this year!!! Potties for the People....

Too often we in western culture take for granted that situations like this do not take place in our country and so tha y do not think that this scenario does not happen in their neck of the woods. But if it isn't in our country, it has perhaps been seen occurring in other cultures elseewhere. We should do all we can to help to resolve this situation in order that it will to become a twenty first century dilemma. A concerted effort should be directed to eliminate this health hazard from our communities. Government alone cannot be expected to handle these problems; civic pride should drive our citizens to get out of the habit of complacency and active positively to eradicate this before we are all engulfed by this catastrophy.... it could happen here(in the west) if we neglect this great opportunity to fight this gross problem we see or read about in the news, daily. We need to be definitely concerned about our neighbors; their problems are ours too. We should act now and help our brothers who need our assistance and further education in this catastropic situation of crisis proportions.

This is certainly a crisis for many countries

You the best Adam

This should be shown to all people who can afford to donate money to eradicate this problem. I see more frivolous spending in the world on war, material items, and sense gratification. The preservation of the planet and the well being of humanity should be a priority for all government, media, education & corporations.
Thank you Current Tv for fighting the fight.

wow. good job on this. definitely very eye-opening and definitely very Current.

Very messed up!! FUBAR

I can't even believe the state of the Yamuna River, Dios!
It's like how you'd imagine the Thames would be before Bazalgette.
But the World Toilet Organisation is so inspiring--is there any way to help them out from a college campus?

the best sanitation documentary since a loooong long time... well done!

This situation is disgusting and horrifying... We need to deal with this immediately!

Bravo.

Oh my gosh! You're a trooper Adam! I would have taken a mask and gloves.

This Is Insane And Should Be Addressed ASAP.Everybody should at least have a toilet to take a shit in and wash there hands. This story hit me hard.This is the worse nightmare i ever watched on T.V. Men, Women and child Living like Animals, Where Are You Now Bill Gates. This Is Where You Need To Your Money.

dont be saying CACA BRO..!!!.... this is a taboo subject. the shyte factor is gross yes'! but i really hope people become aware, not just in poor developing countries but also in developed societies'... .
............... i will spread the word. wait til the shit hits the fan.

Did anyone else notice how he stuck his finger down his throat to make himself vomit on the river bank?

1. Thats insane, everyone should be aware of this problem

and 2. Anyone count how many times Adam said "shit"?

What were the factors that inspired the more effective waste management systems around the world? Was it massive plagues that killed more than half the population? With all the efforts of modern governments to use vaccines and antibiotics, these massive [where bodies accumulated in the streets etc,] plagues have not affected some of the populations that currently have poor sewage management. Thus, to save money or effort, no physical large-scale sewage management has been implemented effectively in the places described in this documentary. Does anyone agree with this theory? Will the "gross-out" factor be enough to change habits? Luckily for most healthy animals, there is a natural instinct to keep away from dangerous sewage, i.e. a natural "gross-out" factor.

OMG - one channel has Mike Rowe and "Dirty Jobs" on; the other channel has this. Curious, I watch this for a few minutes and I hear the line, "Here comes the shit truck" and I pause, rewind and tell my husband, "Hey, look at this - listen - did he really say 'shit'?" - YES he did! shit truck. shit pool. composting shit. Sounds like a George Carlin show. When they started scraping the shit with their bare hands, I had to turn it off or risk puking up the coffee I was drinking at the moment. (I almost puked during Dirty Jobs once, and that was when they were spraying the walls of the SFO "shit plant") - I've changed diapers, cleaned up horse shit, dog shit, cat shit, etc. - but I have a hard time seeing the piles and piles of human shit. Thank God no smell on TV - although I am sure someone is working on that technological "advance".

I just watched the section I didn't get to see about the village taking the pledge to not defecate in the open and it moved me. We here in the West do not think of such things, but for people in this part of the world it is a monumental positive step to health and safety. It is uplifting to see this happening and getting the attention it deserves. I've also posted your report on my water is life blog to spread the word. Thanks again.

what a load of shit

Adam is a champ!

Toilets are for pussies.

The Issue of Over-Population has become Critical.

Planet Earth and its inhabitants are suffering from diverse ills caused singularly and exclusively by man himself. These already existing ills, however, will continue to proliferate until finally everything completely deteriorates.

The Earth’s population is plagued by famines, energy shortages, epidemics, environmental pollution,...excessive increase of waste materials, racial hatred, food shortage, destruction of rain forests, the “greenhouse effect”, pollution of lakes, streams and oceans,...radioactive emissions, chemical pollution of water, air, plants, food, human beings and animals...

The only humane method by which this reduction goal can be achieved, is through stringent birth control regulations that permit married couples, of a predetermined age, to have only a strictly specified number of children.
BEAM

When fewer humans are born on this planet, then we can start solving the problems of sanitation, but the problem is too big now. We must protect the children and fix the earth before they are born.

I have nothing but the upmost respect for the Vanguard team. I remember watching Adam in Madagascar and seeing him fight back tears... this shit is real and nobodys cares..... yet

Bravo, Adam.

35:53 hahahahahahha

I just wanted to make one more comment. I posted a link yesterday describing an effort in parts of India to use humanure to compost human waste and use it for agricultural purposes. There are also special humanure toliets people can use that do not waste water and also facilitate this type of composting. If smaller villages instituted this practice they would not only have a way to have a cleaner more sanitary place to live but they could also have a way to boost their agricultural output, and that will be important now with population increases and climate change. Of course, this would then require water for irrigation as well, and if it isn't clean because of pollution or scarce because of glacier melt ( the Himalayas) neither will their food be safe to eat or yielding enough to sustain them. Which is why this is truly an important issue that effects so may different facets of their lives.

http://www.dailydump.org/

This is a site called Daily Dump, whose main office is located in Bangalore, India and deals with composting human waste for agriculture.

Thank you for raising awareness about this issue as it is such an important one!

Educate, motivate and liberate!

It's about greed and apathy on the part of governments, and yes awareness regarding people and overcoming traditions that are unhealthy. This was very disturbing and sad. No one should have to live this way. Thankfully even though slowly, this crisis is being addressed. It isn't only a matter of health, it is also a matter of human dignity. Thanks for covering this.

Yeah it took me a while to find it as well.
This was one of the most disturbing and disgusting episodes I've seen yet. I was gagging myself the first ten minutes, but I'm so glad it's something you guys covered because it is something hard to talk about it. Even when I tell my friends about this episode they start to giggle because I'm mentioning shit, but it's a real problem that needs to be dealt with.

jesus it took me 15 minutes of navigating this site just to find this video